The Cay

By: Theodore Taylor

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

For fans of Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphins comes Theodore Taylor’s classic bestseller and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner, The Cay.
Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.
When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: “They are different, and they live differently.”
But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip’s head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.

“Mr. Taylor has provided an exciting story…The idea that all humanity would benefit from this special form of color blindness permeates the whole book…The result is a story with a high ethical purpose but no sermon.”—New York Times Book Review

“A taut tightly compressed story of endurance and revelation…At once barbed and tender, tense and fragile—as Timothy would say, ‘outrageous good.’”—Kirkus Reviews

* “Fully realized setting…artful, unobtrusive use of dialect…the representation of a hauntingly deep love, the poignancy of which is rarely achieved in children’s literature.”—School Library Journal, Starred

“Starkly dramatic, believable and compelling.”—Saturday Review

“A tense and moving experience in reading.”—Publishers Weekly

“Eloquently underscores the intrinsic brotherhood of man.”—Booklist

"This is one of the best survival stories since Robinson Crusoe."—The Washington Star

· A New York Times Best Book of the Year
· A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
· A Horn Book Honor Book
· An American Library Association Notable Book
· A Publishers Weekly Children’s Book to Remember
· A Child Study Association’s Pick of Children’s Books of the Year
· Jane Addams Book Award
· Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
· Commonwealth Club of California: Literature Award
· Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award
· Woodward School Annual Book Award
· Friends of the Library Award, University of California at Irvine©2002 Theodore Taylor; (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

Praise for The Cay:

“Mr. Taylor has provided an exciting story…The idea that all humanity would benefit from this special form of color blindness permeates the whole book…The result is a story with a high ethical purpose but no sermon.”—New York Times Book Review

“A taut tightly compressed story of endurance and revelation…At once barbed and tender, tense and fragile—as Timothy would say, ‘outrageous good.’”—Kirkus Reviews

* “Fully realized setting…artful, unobtrusive use of dialect…the representation of a hauntingly deep love, the poignancy of which is rarely achieved in children’s literature.”—School Library Journal, Starred

“Starkly dramatic, believable and compelling.”—Saturday Review

“A tense and moving experience in reading.”—Publishers Weekly

“Eloquently underscores the intrinsic brotherhood of man.”—Booklist

"This is one of the best survival stories since Robinson Crusoe."—The Washington Star

· A New York Times Best Book of the Year
· A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
· A Horn Book Honor Book
· An American Library Association Notable Book
· A Publishers Weekly Children’s Book to Remember
· A Child Study Association’s Pick of Children’s Books of the Year
· Jane Addams Book Award
· Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
· Commonwealth Club of California: Literature Award
· Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award
· Woodward School Annual Book Award
· Friends of the Library Award, University of California at Irvine

This book is close to my heart

Wonderful book for cat lovers, themes of racism, marooned/shipwrecks, tropical survival, creole/calypso, blind heroes. builds empathy.

G Rated Castaway

Loved the story and the narrator. Touches in more than survival. Deals with race, disability, friendship and loneliness that younger readers can understand while still interesting to the older crowd.

A Story that will change your life

Loved this book!!! I read & discussed this book about 3 yrs in a row to & w/ my struggling readers. They learned to love the book & learn from the book that under a person's skin, we are all alike & just because someone looks big & scary, it doesn't mean that they are. They learned from the book that people that weren't given access to schools, can be very smart based on their experiences. This book is a classic to read, discuss & learn from. I believe Dr MLK, Jr would be proud that this book was dedicated to him and his cause for equality.

In tears!

I'm so glad my children have gotten to experience this book. Wow! Can't wait for my youngest to experience this book in the future. We will be back to re-reading and listening again and again.

Memorable Story for 50 Years

My sixth grade teacher read this book to my class and I purposefully memorized both title and author so that one day I might have a copy of my own. Half a century later I found it had not lost it’s charm nor it’s place in my heart. Recommend for all ages. A timeless classic.

This edition includes a brief interview of Theodore Taylor just a year before he left this life. Invaluable insights in that interview.